Shaquille O’Neal did not replace Joey Fatone in *NSYNC

While O’Neal clearly was not a hidden member of *NSYNC — there’s no disguising a 7-1, 325 body in that lineup — he did apparently play a contributing role in the rise of the boy band.

Bass told TMZ that O’Neal “had a big hand” in starting *NSYNC’s career by allowing the group to use his Orlando-area mansion to record their music.

“We lived in Orlando, and our first place that we recorded was his house,” Bass told TMZ. “So all of our first demos, our first songs were all from Shaq’s house.”

Shaq confirms that *NSYNC did hang out at his house

O’Neal confirmed Bass’ story during TNT’s pregame coverage of Tuesday’s game between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors. And apparently *NSYNC wasn’t the only monster boy band of the era recording with Shaq’s assistance.